Investing in state might be too expensive, should I go out of state or just wait?

[Marcos Medeiros]

So I would love to invest by the end of this year/early 2024. The only problem is that South Florida's market is just too expensive to buy into right now especially as a first time homebuyer. So I'm kind of stuck in the process of, do I house hack? Do I take the risk of investing out of state where I can maybe get more for my money, or do I just keep waiting and save up for this market. Rental arbitrage has crossed my mind but I'm not sure this is the best route to go. I want to have equity and also rental arbitrage seems a bit risky. What do you think? If there is another thread similar to this, please let me know as I would hate to waste anyone's time. Thank you so much in advance.